Men's Individual Session 1

by Phillip Alder

The first of the three sessions of the Individual tournaments set a world bridge championship record, being the only time play has taken place before the opening ceremony.

There were 36 men and 24 women in their separate events. I followed Bob Hamman for this session. Unfortunately, there were far more errors made than good plays. For example...

Board 3. Dealer South. East-West vul.
	♠ A K Q 3 ♥ 9 4 ♦ 7 2 ♣ Q J 8 6 4
♠ J 10 7 6 ♥ A Q 8 2 ♦ A 3 ♣ A K 7		♠ 9 8 4 ♥ 10 7 6 3 ♦ Q 9 6 4 ♣ 10 5
	♠ 5 2 ♥ K J 5 ♦ K J 10 8 5 ♣ 9 3 2

West, Romain Zaleski from France, led the club ace, Hamman playing his ten. The easiest way to defeat the contract was to continue with the club king and another club for East to ruff. Then a heart shift would easily produce six tricks. West found another line, shifting to the spade seven at trick two. Declarer, Tim Cope from South Africa, won in the dummy and played a diamond to his jack. West won with the ace and persevered with another spade. South won in the dummy, played a diamond to his ten, cashed the diamond king, and led his last club. At this point, West must go in with his ace, after which the defense will take two hearts and a diamond. But West ducked, permitting declarer to win in the dummy and to discard his last club on the top spade. Declarer continued accurately by ruffing a club in his hand and exiting with the heart king. West won with his ace and cashed the queen, but South had to score either the heart jack (if West led his last heart) or the diamond eight with a coup en passant (if West played his last spade). Plus 90 gave North-South exactly average, 8 out of 16 matchpoints. But minus 100 would have given East-West 10 matchpoints. Then came the first slam:

Board 4. Dealer West. All Vul.
	♠ 10 7 5 4 ♥ J 10 9 7 2 ♦ Q 3 ♣ 9 7
♠ A Q J 9 6 ♥ A 4 3 ♦ A K 10 ♣ Q 3		♠ K ♥ K Q 8 6 ♦ J 5 2 ♣ A K 8 6 2
	♠ 8 3 2 ♥ 5 ♦ 9 8 7 6 4 ♣ J 10 5 4

East-West were partly hampered by the system, in which a 2NT rebid by East would have been nonforcing. But if West had opened 2NT, Hamman probably would have used Gerber twice before bidding the excellent 7NT contract. Four pairs reached the grand slam, so making 6NT with an overtrick was worth only 4 matchpoints.

Board 10. Dealer East. All Vul.
	♠ A 7 ♥ K Q 5 2 ♦ 8 2 ♣ Q 9 8 6 3
♠ J 10 9 6 5 4 ♥ 8 ♦ J 10 4 3 ♣ K J		♠ Q 3 ♥ A 7 6 4 3 ♦ A 5 ♣ 7 5 4 2
	♠ K 8 2 ♥ J 10 9 ♦ K Q 9 7 6 ♣ A 10

Hamman nearly passed out the double of three spades, but assuming declarer guesses clubs, he must take seven tricks: four spades, one heart, one diamond and one club. East's double of 3NT looks wrong with only a doubleton spade. Partner has clearly made a modern-style overcall. West, Shaolin Sun from China, led the spade jack. Declarer gave it some thought, after which he was confident that East, Farrukh Liaqat from Pakistan, had both missing aces to justify his double. And if so, surely West had the club king for his vulnerable overcall. So, Hamman took the first trick in his hand and cashed the club ace. The club jack was a happy sight. South continued with the club ten and lost only three tricks: one heart, one diamond and one club. Plus 950 was another 16. This deal was also exciting.

Board 12. Dealer West. North-South Vul.
	♠ 5 ♥ A Q J 10 8 3 ♦ A 7 ♣ Q 6 4 3
♠ K Q J 9 8 4 2 ♥ 6 2 ♦ K 9 6 ♣ 8		♠ A 7 6 ♥ 7 5 4 ♦ Q 4 3 2 ♣ A 9 7
	♠ 10 3 ♥ K 9 ♦ J 10 8 5 ♣ K J 10 5 2

West	North	East	South
Zhao	Jie Li	Hamman	Lasut
4♠	All Pass

Jie Li from China was dissuaded by the vulnerability from overcalling five hearts. And in a way he was right, because double-dummy defense (club ace, club ruff, spade to the ace, club ruff) gets 500. But no East would find that. One declarer went down in Four Spades, presumably playing a diamond to his king at some point. Jie Zhao from China won North's club lead with dummy's ace, ruffed a club in his hand, drew two rounds of trumps ending in the dummy, ruffed the last club, and exited with a heart. Note that even three rounds of hearts by the defense would not help. Declarer would ruff in his hand and perforce get the diamonds right. But South took the heart and shifted to the diamond jack, North winning with his ace. Plus 420 gave East-West 11 matchpoints. If I heard correctly, at one table, West opened only Three Spades. North, Geir Helgemo from Norway, overcalled Four Hearts. Then, after Four Spades - Pass - Pass, Helgemo balanced with a double. South ran via 4NT, which left North in Five Clubs. East led the spade ace and failed to find the diamond shift, so the contract made for a cold top. The final board of the session featured the best defensive play.

Board 22. Dealer East. East-West Vul.
	♠ 6 4 ♥ K Q 10 4 ♦ A 5 3 ♣ Q J 9 6
♠ A K ♥ 8 6 5 3 2 ♦ 8 6 4 ♣ K 8 4		♠ Q J 10 9 3 ♥ A ♦ K 10 2 ♣ A 7 5 3
	♠ 8 7 5 2 ♥ J 9 7 ♦ Q J 9 7 ♣ 10 2

At IMPs, East, Gay Keaveney from Ireland, would have immediately raised to Four Spades. But at matchpoints, he decided to protect his plus score. He was theoretically correct, but in practice wrong. South, Jon Baldursson from Iceland, led the diamond queen. North, Craig Gower from South Africa, won with his ace and returned a diamond. Now declarer played in textbook fashion. He won with his king and played three rounds of clubs. He could not be stopped from ruffing a club in the dummy to win ten tricks: five spades, one heart, one diamond, two clubs and the club ruff. Plus 170 was worth just under average: 7 matchpoints out of 16. At every table East was in spades, five times at the two-level, once at the three-level and three times in game. The diamond queen was led every time, and eight of the nine declarers won ten tricks. The only North to find the killing defense was Patrick Huang from Chinese Taipei. (At his table, the auction was as above, except that South threw in a sporty Two-Diamond advance over East's Two-Club rebid.) He won the first trick and shifted to a trump. And when he got in with a club, he played another trump to kill the ruff. Plus 100 was a deserved cold top. This makes Huang an early candidate for the International Bridge Press Association's defense of the year award, to be given at the next world championships in Sao Paulo.